Spring has Sprung

A busy time for all three of us this weekend. On Saturday Amy took a long trip west to Bydgoszcz to Chair an international public speaking competition, while I took Audrey to her first birthday party!

It wasn't (quite) as riotous and disorderly as parties she'll attend later in life (like when she's aged 3), but it was still pretty busy with hoards of kids and their parents. It was a really nice afternoon and dad made his way through a hefty amount of party food and cake!

Sunday morning was a trip to our local swimming pool (Wodny Park). It was our first venture as a family to the pool, and Audrey seemed to enjoy her immersion in the (somewhat chilly) baby pool. She was fascinated and delighted by the other swimmers variously diving, sliding and bobbing nearby, and we also enjoyed a few minutes in the considerably warmer jacuzzi, before wandering home.

After lunch we ventured out to Pole Mokotowskie where signs of Spring were most definitely on view. Crowds of people filled the park and we enjoyed our first ice cream of the year while Audrey slept in her pushchair - no doubt dreaming of one day smashing World records in the pool.

Flowers in Pole Mokotowskie

Asleep in the sun

Be an Eco-Warrior From the Comfort of Your Own Home

Tomorrow (29 March) an Australian organisation linked to the WWF (Earth Hour) is encouraging people throughout the World to turn off the electricity in their homes for one hour starting at 8pm.

I thought I'd give this green initiative my full support. Unfortunately though I noticed the timing of Earth Hour clashed horribly with the Wolves v Charlton Athletic football game on tele, which obviously meant that climate change would have to wait - at least until the final whistle.

I was then relieved to discover though, that the game will have (just) finished by the time the 'Earth Hour' starts....which is good news, as should Wolves lose, then their chances of Premiership football next season will also disappear, and I'll be more than ready to sit in a darkened room for an hour. Should Wolves win, I'll be happy to drink beer rather than boil the oh-so-wasteful-and-un-green kettle for a cup of tea. (Being English, I'm also prepared to drink the beer warm just to do my bit for the environment.)

Around Ireland with a baby

We've just got back from 6 days in Ireland. We had a really nice time and covered quite a bit of the country from Dublin to Belfast in a fairly short time.

We spent most of our time in Donegal (in the North West corner of the country). It's a lovely (and wild) part of the World, full of beautiful lochs, beaches and rolling countryside. Almost every corner we turned in the hire car opened up into incredible vistas. Our time in Ireland was only (slightly) spoilt by the grim weather - a few times we found ourselves peering through sheets of rain/fog and hearing ourselves utter (for the hundredth time) "It must look lovely in the summer!"

The beaches near Portsalon were absolutely gorgeous, and we also enjoyed Glenveagh National Park (despite having to dodge the rain). We also spent one night in a B&B connected to a dairy farm which was nice too - unfortunately the owner turned the heating off about 10pm and I'm sure the bedroom temperature dropped to sub-zero...brrrr!

Audrey managed the flights really well and seemed to enjoy the holiday - she was exhausted at times though poor thing, but really loved the attention all the old-ladies gave her at every b&b we stayed at (her grandma says she must be her father's-daughter whatever that means!)

Overall our holiday was great fun and we were all sad that our break is over. Me and Audrey have gone back to our nursery rhymes this morning and Amy has gone trudging (far more reluctantly) back to work!

Audrey's first encounter with sheep!

Admiring the view from the warmth of the car!

The Shipwreck at Bunbeg

The Causeway Coast

Audrey glad to be in bed after a long day

For more pictures of our holiday - CLICK HERE

Audrey on her play-mat (aged 6 and a bit months old)

A short (but cute!) video of Audrey on her mat - as you can see she's really mastered sitting up and in the last couple of weeks her two front teeth have started poking through, giving her immense amounts of dribble!!

Trev's Birthday weekend...

Friday was my birthday! - as everyone took great pleasure in telling me I'm now just 365 days away from turning 40.

It was great to share my birthday with three friends from Newbury, Jules, Emily and Jennie who came to visit for the weekend. They received the 'Warsaw tour' on Saturday, and we also played a couple of games of tennis (The European Tennis Championships) at the tennis centre down the road. We had a prize-giving ceremony on the Sunday which was great fun too. It was really good to see them all and Audrey seemed to really enjoy having other people around the apartment (I guess just looking at us two all the time gets a bit dull!)

We're off to Ireland tomorrow for 6 days, so today will be spent packing Audrey's clothes! If there's room left in the case we may be able to pack a few things for ourselves as well...

Em and Jen discover some of the joys of Super Sam Supermarket

The prize giving ceremony!

A couple more shots from our trip to the Lakes

Audrey asleep in her pushchair and Mikołajki

The view from our window...

This was the view from our bedroom window during our short time out of Warsaw. The hotel was in a lovely spot right on the lake and it must be absolutely gorgeous in the summer.